video, un: littlealbatross

[soulmakingsound]

[What the viewer sees first is hair. Long black hair obscuring the lens of the camera while River fiddles with it. The camera and the girl are both on the floor, and she leans back eventually, sitting against the foot of her bed while she talks.

She never looks directly at the camera.]

There are too many choices.

People talk about getting to go home. Going back to rebuild. I hear them in the halls, in their rooms. Making plans.

But what of the rest of us? The homeless. The lost. The ones who came after the dragon, who never settled.

I opened my eyes and there was snow. I walked where they told me to, stayed where they told me to, and that was easy. And now they give us choices.

Which train to take?

Which life to choose?

Comments

[soulmakingsound]

No. [But it sounds unsure. More like a maybe.]

Where are we going to go? I'm without a compass.

[companioning]

[Inara lets out a slow breath.]

I.... I'm not entirely sure. I'm still trying to find out everything I can about what's available to us.

[And even though there are times when River comes off as very unhinged, Inara knows how brilliant she truly is.]

Do you have any suggestions?

[soulmakingsound]

Bucky's going to Olympia. [She's rambled about Bucky before. Excited and sad and nostalgic. That there's someone else like her. Someone here who reminds her of Simon, someone willing to be a big brother to her.]

I'm still gathering information. Wyverr is where the dragons were. Though an attack from a giant undead dragon seems to affect both places, one might consider a place with small dragons to be unwise.

[companioning]

I see. [She has heard ALL about Bucky, and Inara's actually glad that River's making friends and glad she's met people who want to look out for her.]

Well, I can't rightly say that I'm overly excited to even think about living somewhere where there have been.... any sort of dragon... [Things she never thought she'd ever say.] So perhaps Olympia would be the best, at least until we learn more.

[soulmakingsound]

I forget that moving afterwards is also an option. After Serenity, this seems so much more permanent. Like if we make a decision, that decision stays there and cannot be moved.

Thus the research. And the frustration.

[companioning]

[Inara nods slowly. She understands what River is saying, though for her, she always had the option of returning back to Sihnon or staying with a client if she so wished.]

And what have you found out, darling?

[soulmakingsound]

Wyver has dragons, as discussed. Also the culture dictates that one must fight to prove oneself, an obvious downside.

Olympia provides free housing for the first month of habitation and seems to have better resources and opportunities for work.

Olympia also "feels" better than Wyver, which is unsubstansianable but interesting to note.

[companioning]

[Inara's eyebrows knit together and she shakes her head. She's no fan of fighting nor is she a fan of dragons, so she's thinking that Wyver is not the place for them.

Olympia sounds so much more welcoming.]

Well from all of that, I think we'll just have to pick Olympia, don't you?

[soulmakingsound]

I can't feel it until I'm there. [Not like the boat, which she knows so intimately she could find her way with her eyes closed. It's frustrating, sometimes. Knowing her instincts have limitations but not quite knowing what those are.]

I can't confirm that it feels better. But the facts are stacked in its favour.

[companioning]

[Inara has never quite understood River's abilities, but she's grown to trust them. She nods slowly and thinks.]

Did you want to go there and see what you feel?

[soulmakingsound]

I don't think that's how it works. [Even she doesn't understand them. Even Bucky, so much like her, doesn't have the same abilities. No one can explain.]

We can see how we feel. [A beat, fiddling with the sleeves of her sweater that the closet had given her]

Have you made friends?

[companioning]

Oh... Okay. We can do that.

[She thinks for a moment.]

I've met some people who have the possibilities of being friends. How about you?

[soulmakingsound]

I taught an artist about infinity. Or tried, at least. I'm not certain he understood the concept completely but the conversation was interesting.

A man texted me and we're talking about how terrible Jayne is. Very good fun. I see the potential for a lifelong bond, there.

[companioning]

I'm sure it was. >[Honestly, Inara has always thought herself to be intelligent but next to River, she didn't always feel that way.]

Is that so? [She chuckles.] I'm sure that was an interesting conversation and I'm certain you had a lot to say since Jayne does quite a lot of horrible things.